Improvement in railway-car brakes



w. D. PoPE.

`Railway Gar-Brakes.

"N0, 142,649, Patented September9,l873.

mmuinwn inventor: /M

Per

'immeym UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.-

wILIE D. PoPE, 0E eADsDEN, ALABAMA.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-CAR BRAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 142,649, dated September 9, 1873; application iiled May 31, 1813.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILIE D. POPE, of Gadsden, in the county of Etowah and State of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Safety-Brake, of which the following is a specification:

Figure l is a front view of my improved brake.' Fig. 2 is a top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre-` sponding parts.

My invention has for its object to furnish an improved brake which shall be so constructed that it may be instantaneously adjusted to give av greatly increased power, and which shall be simple in construction, strong, durable, and conveniently operated. The invention consists in the combination of the two sets of gear-Wheels, the shaft, the lever, and the spring with the shaft to which the brakechain is attached, and which is provided with the ratchet-wheel and pawl, as hereinafter fully described.

A represents the platform of a car, and B the brace or frame that supports the brakeshafts, and which is securely attached to the platform A. C is the shaft, to which the brakechain is attached, and upon which it is Wound in applying the brake. To the shaft G is rigidly secured two gear-wheels, D E, the wheel E being considerably larger than the other. F is a shaft, placed parallel with the shaft C, and to which are attached two gear-wheels, G H, of different diameters, and insuch povsitions that, when the shaft F is raised or lowered to bring one or the other of the wheels G H into gear, the other of said wheels will be free. I is a lever, which is swiveled to the shaft F. One end of the lever I is pivoted to a ring bolt or eyebolt, J, attached to the platform A, and its other end is held up by a spring, K, which rests upon the platform A. The spring K should be strong enough to support the shaft F and its attached wheels. To the upper end of the shaft F is attached a hand-wheel, L. To the upper end of the shaft C is attached a ratchet-wheel, M, upon which the pawl N takes hold.

By this construction, when it is necessary to apply the brake with increased power, the

brakeman presses the free end of the lever I down with his foot, which throws the wheels G D out of, and the wheels H E into, gear with each other, which gives a greatly increased leverage.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Fatent- The combination of the two sets of gearwheels, G D and H E, the shaft F, the lever I, spring K, and shaft C, to which the brakechain is attached, and which is provided with the ratchet-wheel M and pawl N, substantially as herein shown and described.

WILIE D. POPE.

NVitnesses:

J oE F. MCGHEE, J. P. MCDUFFIE. 

